10 Guitarists Who Prove Fingers Are Overrated ★ Acoustic Tuesday 145

What's a guitarist's most important body part? If you said hands, you better guess again. In today's video, I'm showing you why your mind is your most important tool as a guitarist.

I have the utmost respect and admiration for all of these guitarists. Each of the guitarists featured used their minds to overcome drastic physical limitations. I am excited to share these musicians with you because they have this inner-fire to create and share music with others...and nothing stopped them from doing it!

My hope is that you get to discover new artists on today's episode while feeling inspired to use your most important guitar tool, your mind, to create and share music with the same passion as these musicians!

At the end of the day, if you're struggling to play guitar, whether it's physical or mental limitations, just remember to adapt your playing style to what suites you. It isn't taking a shortcut to adapt. It's finding an opportunity to create, have fun, and make music. This goes for those affected by an injury or even those who may just be having a bad day with hand pain or fatigue.

Now, without further ado, let's get started with our list of 10 guitarists who use their minds to overcome physical limitations.

10) Django Reinhardt — The grandfather of Gypsy Jazz, Django lost use of his ring and pinky fingers on his fretting hand. He relearned the guitar and went on to become one of the most famous guitarists ever in the genre.

9) Phil Keaggy — A virtuoso fingerstyle player, Phil is missing half of the middle finger on his right hand due to an accident at age four involving a water pump. This limitation did not stop him from becoming a successful and innovative fingerstyle player.

8) Wesley Tuttle — Wesley was raised in California and took up music at age four, and had to relearn to play the guitar and ukulele after losing all but the thumb and one finger on his left hand. He contributed the yodeling to the "Silly Song" in Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and later backed Tex Ritter on guitar.

7) Billy Joe Shaver — Billy Joe Shaver took a job at a lumber mill to make ends meet. One day his right hand (his picking hand) became caught in the machinery, and he lost the better part of two fingers and contracted a serious infection. He eventually recovered and taught himself to play the guitar without those missing fingers.

6) Roy Thackerson — Roy started playing the guitar at the age of 5 and was actually learning chords. At the age of 6, like all young boys, curiosity got the best of him one afternoon when Roy injured his hand pretty bad. Later in life, Roy used his determination and drive to learn the fiddle, mandolin, dobro, and guitar

5) Jerry Garcia — In 1946, two-thirds of Jerry Garcia's right middle finger was cut off by his brother in a wood-splitting accident while the family was vacationing in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This did not stop him from being a revolutionary guitar player and cross-over bluegrass guitarist and more!

4) Barry Abernathy — Barry Abernathy was born with only a thumb and part of an index finger on his left hand. Because of his hand, he approaches the fingerboard from the top and does all of his fretting with his thumb and the end of his one-knuckled index finger. Here is a guy who absolutely wanted to play and was willing to work for it, developing his own methods as he learned. And he became a great player.

3) Mac Rebbenack — Mac Rebbenack's (Doctor John) career as a guitarist was stunted around 1960 when the ring finger on his left (guitar fretting) hand was injured by a gunshot during an incident at a Jacksonville, Florida gig. After the injury, Rebennack concentrated on bass guitar before making piano his main instrument, developing a style influenced by Professor Longhair.

2) Hound Dog Taylor — He was famous among guitar players for having six fingers on both hands, a condition called polydactyly. As is usual with the condition, the extra digits were rudimentary nubbins and could not be moved. One night, while drunk, he cut off the extra digit on his right hand using a straight razor.

1) Andres Godoy — “We must always find a way to get past our disabilities. We can’t depend on people to help us, we have to do it ourselves." Andres lost his arm when he was 14, but that didn't stop him from pursuing his career in fingerstyle guitar. What an awesome inspiration!

Be sure to visit Acoustic Life for the show notes and links for everything featured in today's episode!

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